India reports 3.23 lakh new Covid cases

India today logged over 3.23 lakh new Covid cases, 8.4 per cent less than yesterday, and 2,771 deaths in the last 24 hours. Several nations, including the US, have pledged help as India grapples with severe shortage of oxygen supply and essential medicines.

This is the sixth straight day that over three lakh cases have been recorded in India. The fresh cases take the country’s total caseload to over 1.76 crore. Monday’s deaths have taken the total fatalities to 1,97,894.

Maharashtra reported 48,700 cases of Covid even as Mumbai recorded a drop in cases. Several other cities in the state continue to have a high caseload despite the strict restrictions.

After Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have the most infections.

From tonight, Karnataka will observe a two week shutdown in a bid to break the chain of Covid infections. The state, which reported 29,744 new cases, has seen a huge spike in infections that has overwhelmed the health system. 16,545 of the new cases are from Bengaluru.